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Discuss this Article 33

In the current unsupportive environment radiated by the current US administration, one can only describe this as foolish!
Europe now, must exercise (as is the USA) a policy of Europe first.
One does not buy from a supplier who is busy shooting his customer in the foot!

You must be new to defense news. Go look at the history of the A400 power plant. The EU governments pressured Airbus to not use the Canadian PW180 that Airbus preferred, look how that turned out.

Also even when a US system was selected they have spend like the MLRS, or historical purchases like the F-104 and F-16's. They set up entire local production lines. This led to the systems costing almost twice what they would have cost if made in the US. They now have an organic production capability for parts, not needed the US.

Well, we don't necessarily have to become protectionist if Trump opts to do so. It will ultimately depend on his deeds, not his words.

If Germany has a trade surplus with the US, that can be reduced by buying American warplanes. That will make protectionists in the US happier, and they'll be less inclined to impose restrictions or tariffs on the import of German goods and services.

Trump is right. The E. U.s eastward expansion to the Russian border endangers all. Germany should not have attack planes to penetrate Russian airspace. The F-35 is essentially a short range B-2 and I think all agree that Germany should not have B-2s. U.S. foreign policy should be to woo Russia to become an ally against the common enemy of Islamism. The perceived threat from German F-35s is an incentive for Russia to improve the S-400 and Russia will be tempted to sell S-400 to Iran, N. Korea and China.

Instead of deep penetrating attack planes, Germany should be buying defensive systems. Germany is a maritime trading nation. The Somali pirates showed how weak NATO navies are. The pirates operated with impunity for over a year because we did not have intelligence assets to defeat Somali pirate mother ships. If we can't track Somali pirate mother ships, we certainly cannot track Iranian, Chinese and N. Korean quiet diesel submarines.

The USN has badly neglected antisubmarine and anti-mine warfare in favor of building aircraft carriers which are vulnerable to submarines and mines. Germany should be using its engineering expertise to develop unmanned underseas vehicles, the force multiplier NATO and the U.S. need. The UUV will be just as revolutionary at sea as the UAV has been and will continue to be in the air.

Germany's long term threat is high birth rate Sunni immigrants who reject German culture taking over from low birth rate Germans. A mini-B-2 to threaten Russia does not help.

Germany's short term threat is Iran closing the Straits of Hormuz with mines, quiet diesel submarines and swarms of boats. Again, a mini-B2 will be useless.

Are you a Russian surrogate? Of course Russia would prefer that Europeans did not have advanced planes that may make their air defenses obsolete. If Russia cannot behave like a civilized country and continues to threaten its neighbors, the only reasonable reply is to deploy advanced weapons that will discourage Russia from more aggressive misadventures. Russia apparently plans to sell S-400s to India, China, Turkey anyway. And I am sure Russia will be improving their AA systems regardless whether Germany buys F-35s or not.

If European nations want to retain any semblance of an independant military aircraft design capability they will have to design one. Simply handing billions of euros to LM will not retain all the design teams (and the highly skilled jobs) that an indigenous capability needs. It would be simply naive not to do so.
This is the real reason Japan, South Korea and Turkey are attempting to create their own aircraft. The US Senate and Congress would not allow the USAF to buy a foreign designed and built combat aircraft no matter how good, particularly one with all the attached strings the F-35 has.
BAe has deals with Japan and Turkey to keep their hand in the game, unless the Europeans (and I include France) collaborate the Rafale and Typhoon will be the swan songs of the industry.

I hope that no European nation commits to the F-35.
We have the industrial capability to produce a 6th generation aurplane if needed.
Starting to finally kick the US out of Europe and building our own defense will bring peace and stability. We had excellent relations with Russia until the US messed up Ukraine and made the EU puppet states support their agenda.

First of all, I never said that Russia was not involved. Russia reacted to western agression.

Yes the US and EU puppet states messed that situation up, because they ventured way tooo far into Russias backyard.

What would you say if Russia or China would start to establish themselves in Mexico, Venezuela, Kuba or the Bahamas? Would you like to have them in your backyard? The Cuba Crisis showed us that the US clearly (and understandably) does not want that, and you have to respect, that other sovereign nations have their own interests and red lines.

You have to understand, that eastern Ukrain is a vital part of the Russian economy, defense capability and industrial base.

I don't want to defend Russia and I am smart enough to know that they are not an ally, but if you step on someones toe, you will have to deal with the consequences.

I hope that no (additional) European nation commits to the F-35.
We have the industrial capability to produce a 6th generation airplane in Europe if needed. Right now we have Rafale and Typhoon and the should be good for the next several decades, if complementet by a 6th gen strike fighter or even better a regional bomber.

Starting to finally kick the US out of Europe and building up our own defense will bring peace and stability.

We had excellent relations with Russia until the US messed up the situation in Ukraine and made the EU puppet states support their agenda. We also have to be aware of Russian. Russia is not an ally and will never be, but good trade relations are always welcome.

If “Command Fighter Advanced” is what Germany is looking for, then the F-35 is the wrong plane for them. This is because the F-35 avionics software is closed and off limit to allies, meaning it is not possible for Germany to add software that would make CFX functionalities possible.

Additionally the F-35 is single seat, so workload is too great for the F-35 pilot to fly his plane and then manage drones.

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